Question

Name a member of lanthanoids series which is well known to exhibit +4 oxidation state

Answer 1

Name the members of the lanthanoid series which exhibit +4 oxidation state and those which exhibit +2 oxidation state. Try to correlate this type of behavior with the electronic configurations of these elements.

Answer

The lanthanides that exhibit +2 and +4 states are shown in the given table. The atomic numbers of the elements are given in the parenthesis.

+2+4Nd(60)Ce(58)Sm(62)Pr(59)Eu(63)Nd(60)Tm(69)Tb(65)Yb(70)Dy(66)

 

Ce after forming Ce4+ attains a stable electronic configuration of [Xe].

Tb after forming Tb4+ attains a stable electronic configuration of [Xe] 4f7.

Eu after forming Eu2+ attains a stable electronic configuration of [Xe] 4f7.

Yb after forming Yb2+ attains a stable electronic configuration of [Xe] 4f14.